My job with Uber puts me at risk
Compensate drivers in cities affected by COVID-19
Like millions of people in this country, I work as a ride-share driver. It’s decent money between writing gigs. And besides the odd psycho, I enjoy my customers. Sharing the close confines of my four-door sedan, we talk, have some laughs and listen to music.
We also sneeze, cough and touch every surface in the car. Sometimes passengers throw up. It’s not a job for the germaphobic.
But for the first time in nearly three years, I’m starting to feel apprehension about these conditions. The new coronavirus has arrived in my home of Los Angeles. As of Wednesday, Los Angeles County had 192 confirmed cases. One person in the county has died from the illness. Public health officials have made it clear that this will get worse before it gets better. They have encouraged social distancing.
Uber itself has given the appearance of going along with safety measures. They are strongly encouraging corporate employees to work from home. Drivers who are diagnosed with the illness will find their accounts suspended. UberPools have been suspended.
As of Tuesday, though, the company was calling for the continuation of all other Uber products, including UberX rides and Uber Eats. Diagnosed drivers, or those placed in mandatory government quarantine, will be compensated.
Like many workers, we drivers cannot just socially distance ourselves.
Driving is frequently my primary source of income. During those times, there is no way I can pay for essentials without putting my health, and the health of my riders, at risk. While this fact is no doubt an indictment of our capitalist system, it is also an illustration of just how insufficient Uber’s measures are.
Mathew Foresta
Protecting myself and passengers
I have been trying to take measures to protect myself and my passengers from getting COVID-19. Before every shift in my car, I disinfect everything I think could have been touched by the previous day’s passengers with antibacterial wipes. I give hand sanitizer to every rider. Still, this feels like fighting a tank with a slingshot. There is no good substitute for social distancing.
Waiting until drivers are already sick or in quarantine shows little care for the workers who make up the backbone of the company’s labor force. Yes, we are workers — no one buys that independent contractor doublespeak. The fact that more care is being shown for corporate employees comes off as a total disregard for driver safety.
While I don’t expect major corporations to have much in the way of a heart, it adds insult to injury that the lack of protections comes during such a grave outbreak.
The virus has, on average, a five-day incubation period. A rider could easily infect us drivers, and we could infect others as we drive around asymptomatic. Waiting until a diagnosis does nothing to alleviate this threat.
Of course we shouldn’t panic, but we also must take this illness seriously. The illness has a high survival rate.
I am a healthy 30-year-old. If I were to catch it, I’d likely live. But what if I gave a ride to a customer with a compromised immune system who isn’t so lucky? My father has some health problems that make me worry about passing it on to him.
Even if I survived and my family members survived, the results could still be catastrophic. COVID-19 can cause permanent lung damage.
Paid sick leave
The big ride-share companies should pay drivers in affected areas a stipend to stay home, infected or not. A stipend will allow us workers to survive while taking correct social distancing measures.
Society is rightly seeing fit to take the proper precautions to avert catastrophe. Schools are shutting down, sports leagues are suspending play, even Disneyland is closing. Ride-share companies must follow by not taking half measures.
Drivers shouldn’t have to fight for paid sick leave in court for companies to do the right thing. Yes, paying drivers to stay home will hurt the corporate bottom line and be a major inconvenience to riders. In these times, however, profit and comfort cannot trump safety and social responsibility.
In writing this, it is in the back of my mind that I could get into trouble with Uber. But during this crisis I cannot stay silent. None of us can. We must demand the institutions of society, both private and public, take all moral and sane measures to combat this illness.
We have to ensure the curve is flattened while taking into account the necessity of allowing workers a means to get by. I’m only asking that the responsible, caring thing be done.